Spring 2026 - University Commencement & Convocation Exercises
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Thursday, April 30, 2026 – Friday, May 1, 2026.
PhD Proposal Defense - Benjamin Silberman
Mechanical Engineering
A Doctor of Philosophy Proposal Defense Entitled: Using a physics-based thermal imaging disdrometer to measure snowflake properties and model storm-snow instabilityBy: Benjamin Silberman Date: Friday, May 1 2026 Time: 10:00am Location: MEK 3350 Committee Members: Dr. Eric Pardyjak (Chair)Dr. Timothy GarrettDr. Ashley SpearDr. Dhirah SinghDr. Travis Morrison Project Summary Predicting new snow avalanches is difficult because the mechanical properties that drive forecasting models are hazardous to access during storms and cannot be measured remotely at high-resolution. With the recent development of the Differential Emissivity Imaging Disdrometer (DEID), such physical properties can be captured remotely in near-real time. While DEID-driven data has been validated, models that rely on these parameters have not been investigated. Furthermore, many of the models that predict mechanical properties such as shear strength () and compactive viscosity of snow () use data and coefficients fit to measurements…
Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, May 1, 2026, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM.
2nd Annual ECE Mix & Mingle
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Celebrate your achievements with fellow graduates, faculty, and friends! Enjoy good company, refreshments, and a fun atmosphere as we honor your hard work and success.
Campus Locations: Merrill Engineering Building - Joseph F. (MEB). Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, May 1, 2026, 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM.
Spring 2026 Full Term - Grades due
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Monday, May 4, 2026.
Summer 2026 - House Bill 60 registration
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Monday, May 4, 2026.
PhD Dissertation Defense - Travis Allen
Mechanical Engineering
A PhD DISSERTATION Defense Titled: Use of Rotating Magnetic Dipoles for Induction-based Detumbling of Conductive Nonmagnetic Objects
By: Travis Allen
Date: 5/4/2026
Time: 10:00 AM MDT
Location: MEK 3350
Committee Members:
Dr. Jake Abbott (Chair)
Dr. Tucker Hermans
Dr. Shad Roundy
Dr. Kam Leang
Dr. Andrew Petruska
Defense Summary/ Abstract:
To ensure long-term viability of activities in Earth orbit, robotic spacecraft must perform on-orbit servicing of assets and remove debris. Many such objects are tumbling and must be detumbled before servicing. They are often fragile and lack dedicated grapples, so contactless manipulation is desirable. Resident space objects (RSOs) largely comprise aluminum, so manipulation techniques based on magnetic induction are promising. Prior work empirically modeled the wrench induced quasistatically on a solid sphere by a rotating magnetic dipole (RMD) field, and used this model to perform contactless manipulation using multiple RMD field sources. Although six-degre…
Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Monday, May 4, 2026, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM.
PhD Defense Etee Kawna Roy
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells are a leading thin-film technology, but their performance is often limited by surface recombination at non-ideal back contacts. This work addresses the challenge by developing a micropatterned Al₂O₃ back-contact architecture that combines surface passivation, carrier-selective transport, and optical functionality. A robust fabrication approach using optimized photolithography, controlled wet etching, and shadow mask metallization enables reproducible microhole arrays on rough CdTe surfaces without material degradation. The resulting structure forms localized metal contacts through microholes while preserving dielectric coverage elsewhere, allowing precise control over contact fraction and its influence on device behavior. Electrical studies reveal that for as-grown CdTe, Al₂O₃ primarily acts as a transport barrier, increasing series resistance and reducing performance. In contrast, post-annealed CdTe benefits from improved carrier transport and reduced recombination, enabl…
Campus Locations: Merrill Engineering Building - Joseph F. (MEB). Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Monday, May 4, 2026, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
MS Thesis Defense - Gavin Sueltz
Mechanical Engineering
A Masters of Science Thesis Defense:
Sensor–Placement–Agnostic Sonomyography via Sparse Optical Flow for Assistive Devices
By: Gavin Sueltz
Date: 05/05/2026
Time: 10:00 AM
Location: MEK 3350
Committee Members:
Laura Hallock
Amy Lenz
Edorado Battaglia
Project Summary
Sonomyography (SMG) enables continuous device control via
ultrasound-measured muscle deformation signals, but existing SMG interfaces
generally require substantial user- and sensor-location-specific training data and
provide only one proportional signal or task-specific classification.
We present a real-time, sensor-placement-agnostic SMG control system based
on Lucas–Kanade sparse optical flow tracking that enables continuous 1-DOF
control after minimal calibration (3 pose definitions). We also present a
preliminary expansion of this method that augments this algorithm with a short
computer-aided calibration to enable 2-DOF control.
We evaluate both 1- and 2-DOF systems’ performance for a preliminary
cohort of 3 cervical spinal cord…
Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Tuesday, May 5, 2026, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM.
PhD Defense: Farhan Sadik Sium
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Campus Locations: Merrill Engineering Building - Joseph F. (MEB). Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Wednesday, May 6, 2026, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
PhD Proposal Defense - Claire Ticknor
Mechanical Engineering
A Doctor of Philosophy Proposal Defense Entitled:
Exploring the effects of particles and defects on the mechanical response of reactive additive manufactured metal matrix composites using a modified large-strain elasto-viscoplastic FFT-based framework.
By: Claire Ticknor
Date: May 6, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: MEK 3350
Committee Members:
Dr. Ashley Spear (Chair)
Dr. Jacob Hochhalter
Dr. Shuaihang Pan
Dr. Owen Kingstedt
Dr. John Emery
Project Summary
Reactive additive-manufactured metal matrix composites (RAM-MMCs) combine the design flexibility of additive manufacturing with the desirable mechanical properties of metal matrix composites. They consist of a ductile metal matrix and precursor particles that partially react during processing to form sub-µm reinforcement particles. However, incomplete reactions leave µm-scale unreacted particles that act as major defects, reducing ductility and causing a strength–ductility trade-off as precursor volume increases. The overarching goal of this project is…
Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Wednesday, May 6, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
PhD Dissertation Defense - Bahar Kazemi
Mechanical Engineering
A Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Defense Entitled:
Implementation and Validation of a Programmable Modular Microfluidic Platform for Automated Metatranscriptomic Library Preparation
By: Bahar Kazemi
Date: 5/7/2026
Time: 9:00 AM MDT
Committee Members:
Bruce Gale (Chair)
Jay Kim
Shad Roundy
Himanshu Sant
Tom Zangle
Project Summary
Scalable preparation of metatranscriptomic sequencing libraries remains a major challenge in microbiome research due to the complexity of multi-step RNA processing workflows. These workflows typically require DNase treatment, ribosomal RNA removal, and cDNA synthesis, and are difficult to automate without large instrumentation, high reagent consumption, and extensive manual handling.
This dissertation presents the implementation and validation of a programmable microfluidic platform for automated metatranscriptomic library preparation. The system integrates modular workflow steps using disposable microfluidic chips operated on a reusable thermal–pneumatic interface, en…
Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Thursday, May 7, 2026, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM.
PhD Proposal Defense - Rachel Buckley
Mechanical Engineering
A Doctor of Philosophy Proposal Defense Entitled:
Molecular and Microstructural Damage to the Retinal Vasculature from Tensile and Tractional Loading
By: Rachel Buckley
Date: Thursday, May 7th, 2026
Time: 2:00 PM MDT
Location: MEK 3350
Committee Members:
Dr. Brittany Coats (Chair)
Dr. Amy Lenz
Dr. Ken Monson
Dr. Hossein Montazerian
Dr. Lucas Timmins
Project Summary
Retinal hemorrhage occurs in up to 83% of abusive head trauma cases; however, retinal hemorrhage can also occur in up to 10% of accidental head trauma cases. Especially in mild to moderate cases of retinal hemorrhage, it can be difficult to determine if the cause of the hemorrhage is accidental or abusive head trauma. To better delineate between accidental or abusive retinal hemorrhage, the mechanism and forces required to create retinal hemorrhage need to be defined. Vitreoretinal traction is a prevalent theory for damage to the retinal vasculature. This theory states that the vitreous of the eye pulls perpendicular to the retina during h…
Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Thursday, May 7, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Spring 2026 - College of Law Graduation Exercises
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, May 8, 2026.
PhD Proposal Defense - James Alexander Lee Gallagher
Mechanical Engineering
PhD Proposal Defense by Jim Gallagher on May 8th at 2:00pmA Doctor of Philosophy Proposal Defense Entitled: Examining Hyphal Strength-Structure Relationships By: James Alexander Lee Gallagher Date: May 8th 2026 Time: 2:00pm Location: MEK 3350 Committee Members: Dr. Steven E. Naleway (Chair) Dr. Samira Shiri Dr. Jeffery Bates Dr. Bryn Dentinger Dr. Shuaihang Pan Project Summary Fungi have only been formally recognized as a kingdom as of 1969, but already it is emerging as a promising source of building materials, with recent applications including fungal bricks, buoys, and 3D-printed structures. Despite demonstrated mechanical strength, the fundamental relationships between fungal structure, chemistry, and mechanics remain poorly understood. This project addresses this gap by investigating fungal hyphae, which compose almost all fungal structures, and how variations in their structure, composition, and growth conditions influence mechanical performance. By examining differences across hyphal types,…
Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, May 8, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Summer 2026 First Half - Classes begin
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Monday, May 11, 2026.
Summer 2026 First Half - Last day to add, drop (delete), elect CR/NC, or audit classes
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Thursday, May 14, 2026.
Summer 2026 First Half - Last day to wait list
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Thursday, May 14, 2026.
PhD Proposal Defense - Toushiqul Islam
Mechanical Engineering
A Doctor of Philosophy Proposal Defense Entitled:
“Lifecycle Microstructure Engineering of Additively Manufactured Ni-Superalloys for Performance and Scalability”
By: Toushiqul Islam
Date: 5/14/2026
Time: 2 PM
Location: MEK 3350
Committee Members:
Name: Dr. Shuaihang Pan
Name: Dr. Ashley D Spear
Name: Dr. Emma Davoodi
Name: Dr. Xuan Zhu
Name: Dr. Jonah Klemm-toole
Project Summary
Additive manufacturing (AM) of Nickel (Ni)-based superalloys has enabled unprecedented design flexibility for high-performance components in aerospace, energy, and nuclear systems. Inconel 625 (IN625) serves as a representative alloy due to its corrosion resistance, high-temperature strength, and weldability. Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) are both widely used to manufacture IN625 because each offers clear advantages of mould-less free-forming and rapid prototyping. However, both processes also have important limitations, because neither is ideal to balance service reliability,…
Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Thursday, May 14, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Spring 2026 - School of Dentistry Graduation Exercises
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, May 15, 2026.
Spring 2026 - School of Medicine Graduation Exercises
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, May 15, 2026.
Summer 2026 Full Term - Last day to add without a permission code
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, May 15, 2026.
Summer 2026 Full Term - Last day to wait list
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, May 15, 2026.
PhD Dissertation Defense - Ihsan S. Elnunu
Mechanical Engineering
A Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Defense Entitled:
Investigating Structure-Property Relationships in Fungal Sporocarps Structures for Bioinspiration
By: Ihsan S. Elnunu
Date: May 15th, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM
Location: MEK 3350
Committee Members:
Dr. Steven E. Naleway (Chair)
Dr. Bryn Dentinger
Dr. Mathieu Francoeur
Dr. Ken Monson
Dr. Jeffrey S. Bates
Project Summary
Kingdom Fungi has been mostly excluded from the history of bioinspired solutions, despite being estimated to have millions of species. The sporocarps (i.e. mushrooms) from Kingdom Fungi include a wide range of species with robust mechanical properties, from soft (sponge-like) to hard (wood-like), making them an excellent alternative for a wide range of applications across various industries. The structures of fungi’s sporocarps and their material, physical, and mechanical properties offer a wide range of possibilities for material characterization and the creation of bioinspired materials. Given the variety and structures of fungi, littl…
Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, May 15, 2026, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
Executive Committee Meeting
Executive Committee Meeting
For Dept. Chairs Only.
Campus Locations: Warnock Engineering Building - John and Marva (WEB). Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, May 15, 2026, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Summer 2026 - Deadline to apply for graduation
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Wednesday, May 20, 2026.
For more info visit registrar.utah.edu. Summer 2026 - Tuition payment due
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Wednesday, May 20, 2026.
For more info visit fbs.admin.utah.edu. Summer 2026 Full Term - Last day to add, drop (delete), elect CR/NC, or audit classes
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Wednesday, May 20, 2026.
Holiday: Memorial Day
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Monday, May 25, 2026.
Summer 2026 First Half - Last day to withdraw from classes
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, May 29, 2026.
BME Faculty Meeting
Biomedical Engineering
Campus Locations: Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building - James LeVoy (SMBB). Contact Name: Taylor Wilkes. Contact Email: taylor.wilkes@utah.edu. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, May 29, 2026, 3:15 PM – 5:15 PM.
Summer 2026 - Census deadline
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Monday, June 1, 2026.
Summer 2026 First Half - Last day to reverse CR/NC option
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, June 12, 2026.
Holiday: Juneteenth (observed)
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Monday, June 15, 2026.
Summer 2026 First Half - Classes end
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Wednesday, June 17, 2026.
Summer 2026 Second Half - Classes begin
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Thursday, June 18, 2026.
Summer 2026 Full Term - Last day to withdraw from classes
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, June 19, 2026.
Executive Committee Meeting
Executive Committee Meeting
For Dept. Chairs Only.
Campus Locations: Warnock Engineering Building - John and Marva (WEB). Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, June 19, 2026, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Summer 2026 First Half - Grades Due
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Monday, June 22, 2026.
Summer 2026 Second Half - Last day to add, drop (delete), elect CR/NC, or audit classes
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
Summer 2026 Second Half - Last day to wait list
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
Utah AI Convergence
Details TBD.
Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Tuesday, June 23, 2026 – Wednesday, June 24, 2026.
BME Faculty Meeting
Biomedical Engineering
Campus Locations: Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building - James LeVoy (SMBB). Contact Name: Taylor Wilkes. Contact Email: taylor.wilkes@utah.edu. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, June 26, 2026, 3:15 PM – 5:15 PM.
Holiday: Independence Day (observed)
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, July 3, 2026.
Summer 2026 Second Half - Last day to withdraw from classes
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, July 10, 2026.
Executive Committee Meeting
Executive Committee Meeting
For Dept. Chairs Only.
Campus Locations: Warnock Engineering Building - John and Marva (WEB). Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, July 17, 2026, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Holiday: Pioneer Day
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, July 24, 2026.
Summer 2026 Full Term - Last day to reverse CR/NC option
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, July 24, 2026.
Summer 2026 Second Half - Last day to reverse CR/NC option
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, July 24, 2026.
Pioneer Day Holiday
Pioneer Day Holiday.
Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, July 24, 2026.
Fall 2026 - Open enrollment
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Monday, July 27, 2026.
Summer 2026 Full Term - Classes end
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Wednesday, July 29, 2026.
Summer 2026 Second Half - Classes end
Academic Deadlines
Event Categories: Academic & Holiday. Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Wednesday, July 29, 2026.